In conventional fabric grading systems it has been traditional for fabric inspectors to grade fabric by looking over the entire area of a roll of fabric and if defects are detected recording them by type, severity and location and where possible mending the fabric to eliminate or mitigate the defect. This has typically been accomplished by an operator using pencil and paper to record defects and needle and thread, tweezers or other suitable implements to correct defects. An inspection frame, manually controlled by the operator, is used to transport the fabric being inspected. Accordingly, the process of grading a fabric has been cumbersome, time consuming, inefficient and occassionally inaccurate.
Although voice control systems for operating machinery have been known in the prior art (i.e., see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,946,157; 4,348,550; 4,401,852; and 4,435,617 to Dreyfus, Pirz et al, Noso et al and Griggs, respectively) the assignee of this invention first proposed an automated system for grading fabrics using a computer equipped with a speech command system so that inspectors could verbally record defects that are detected, while their hands were free of pencil and paper so that mending of the fabric could be facilitated wherever possible. This automated system greatly increased productivity. The system further provided report generation capabilities in that stored data could be printed out to provide reports of problems with weavers, looms or the like as well as providing final grade information for the product that was to be sold.
While the above described automated system was a significant advance over conventional grading systems, it still required the operator to manually operate the frame which transported the fabric being inspected and it did not discriminate between major and minor defects, the latter of which could be mended during the inspection operation and the former of which had to be located subsequently by searching the roll of fabric so that more intensive corrections or outright removal of the defective portion of the fabric could be accomplished.